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Yeah, for pure espresso I figured my Baratza Encore would certainly be the weak link. Would the Rancilio Silvia v3 be the best introductory bang for the buck semi auto machine?

Nothing wrong with the Silvia, it's been the gold standard intro semi for a long time. Personally, I would save up a little more for something more consistent and use your current set-up until then. There are some good machines in the $1K-$1.4K range that will produce good if not better results than a coffee shop with the right touch. Keep and eye out on Chris's coffee service and 1st Line for deals.

The Brazen makes great coffee. I like the control you have with the machine; saturation time, temperature, correct for altitude, manual water release, etc. I do have some very minor complaints. First, the lid will leak water droplets when the water gets up to temperature. I could fix this if it really bothered me. Second, I would like more graduations in the resevoir for making smaller batches. Third, some users complain about pulling out the filter basket and making a mess, I did it once but it was all my fault, I was being rammy and in a hurry. Third, users have complained about water left in the basket and or in the resevoir. I don't have that issue. Fourth, the amount of time it takes to make a full pot. I rarely make a full 8 cup pot but even the amount of time it takes to make 3-4 cups seems long when you need a fix. Brazen may want to release a bigger model as well; 8 cups may not be enough for a family of coffee drinkers. Not sure of the Brazen has been SCAA approved it that makes a big difference.

Nothing wrong with the Silvia, it's been the gold standard intro semi for a long time. Personally, I would save up a little more for something more consistent and use your current set-up until then. There are some good machines in the $1K-$1.4K range that will produce good if not better results than a coffee shop with the right touch. Keep and eye out on Chris's coffee service and 1st Line for deals.

Would a PIDed Silvia compete with some of the more expensive models you allude to as far as consistency is concerned? What machines specifically would you recommend? I am going to enjoy my current set-up for quite sometime. I just do not have the budget right now to pull the trigger on an Espresso machine but I do enjoy learning as much as I can from people who are willing to teach.

my coffee addiction

Mostly buy beans from Transcend, Social, and 49th Parallel here in Canada and have a small shop in Medicine Hat that has some beans I enjoy.

If money was no object I would love to add a semi automatic espresso maker to my counter top

green beans from sweet marias , behmor roaster, bonavita brewer, bodum french press, melita cone filter, just bought [but dont have yet] a 'clever coffee dripper' melita style cone with paper filter that has a valve so you can let it steep a while before draining into cup, zassenhous manual grinder, miss silvia with rockey doserless grinder, bottomless portafilter with vst precision filter basket.. i wanted a dbl boiler unit but could not justify the price difference .. when i bought silvia and rocky the total was $800......
check out sweet marias for the reviews of the various roasters.. for a mcuh smaller investment than an espresso machine you could move up to the next level caffiene addiction by roasting your own .. good luck

Behmor 1600 roaster is a nice machine. I am in love with Kona and being a low grown I can roast 18oz at a time. One of the tricks with the 1600 is to pull the drum and get the beans cooling fast. Try The Grean Bean Buying Club for a good source of Kona. Good community as well.

The Brazen makes great coffee. I like the control you have with the machine; saturation time, temperature, correct for altitude, manual water release, etc. I do have some very minor complaints. First, the lid will leak water droplets when the water gets up to temperature. I could fix this if it really bothered me. Second, I would like more graduations in the resevoir for making smaller batches. Third, some users complain about pulling out the filter basket and making a mess, I did it once but it was all my fault, I was being rammy and in a hurry. Third, users have complained about water left in the basket and or in the resevoir. I don't have that issue. Fourth, the amount of time it takes to make a full pot. I rarely make a full 8 cup pot but even the amount of time it takes to make 3-4 cups seems long when you need a fix. Brazen may want to release a bigger model as well; 8 cups may not be enough for a family of coffee drinkers. Not sure of the Brazen has been SCAA approved it that makes a big difference.

Thanks.

How long does a full pot take?

-Enjoy the ride. *** All statements made herein are my personal opinion and nothing more, regardless of tone or context. ***

Tomorrow morning I will time a pot from the point I hit the start button to the finish beep. I will give you my water temperature going in and the length of time it takes from there. I am at about 1800 ft above sea level. I would guess somewhere in the 11-12 minute mark and this is with a pre-soak of 1:30 and a brew temperature of 202 F.

Behmor 1600 roaster is a nice machine. I am in love with Kona and being a low grown I can roast 18oz at a time. One of the tricks with the 1600 is to pull the drum and get the beans cooling fast. Try The Grean Bean Buying Club for a good source of Kona. Good community as well.

thanks for the tips... kona sounds a good way to further deplete my disposable income ...
and all the years i have had the behmor i never thought of taking the drum out ..

That would be awesome, thank you.
If you could try to capture the time of actual extraction (water flowing) that would be an added bonus.

Thanks Troy.

Here is what I came up with for numbers this morning. Water went in at 70F. It took 6:30 for the water to hit 202F. At about 5:50 the water was at 197 and you could here that the machine was backing the heat off to take it up to the set temp. I set the machine for 30 seconds of infusion because the beans were a little older. The coffee infused for 30 seconds but it took a little time before I could hear the coffee hitting the caraffe. It then took 5:29 to the finish beep to run through. I got a total time of 12:46 from start button to finish beep.

I am not sure if this time is longer than normal or not. It has been awhile since I descaled so I am going to do that tonight and see if the numbers improve. I would not expect a huge time difference though.